


Some Rotten Deal

by glamaphonic



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Character of Color, Female Character of Color, Friendship, Gen, POV Character of Color, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-20
Updated: 2009-11-20
Packaged: 2017-10-03 11:49:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glamaphonic/pseuds/glamaphonic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a moment before he remembered she couldn't see the scowl he was directing at her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Rotten Deal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wildgoosery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wildgoosery/gifts).



> Title from ["Apples in the Trees"](http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/Apples_in_the_Trees/8555797) by Mirah.

"So...fight with your dad, huh?"

In spite of himself (he was very invested in staunchly ignoring anything these people had to say that was not directly and explicitly about the issue at hand), Zuko's head snapped up as he glared at the tiny girl sitting across from him. When the rest of her friends had gone to discuss the merits of his proposal, she had been left to watch him. As it were. It was a moment before he remembered that she couldn't see the scowl he was directing at her.

"What?" he asked, not because he hadn't heard her, but because he figured his affronted tone would communicate that this was not a topic of conversation he was going to broach with her.

No such luck. "You had a fight with your dad and that's why you're here right?" she asked, one hand moving vaguely to indicate their surroundings, a small factory worker's dormitory where the Avatar's group had been hiding.

There were many reasons that Zuko had chosen to come to them, had chosen to promise them his assistance when they moved to subdue his father, and none of them could, in his opinion, be so simplisitically summed up as having had a fight with his father. It was insulting.

"I didn't have a fight with my father. We have a- The things that he's doing are- He doesn't-" Zuko spluttered, choking on his own indignation.

"You were trying to catch Twinkletoes so he'd let you come back home, right? And after the whole thing in Ba Sing Se he did, but now you're suddenly against him. Because you had a fight."

"It's not that simple," Zuko responded, even though he had to acknowledge, at least to himself, that he hadn't done a very good job of explaining why. Of course, she was just a child, it wasn't as though she would understand anyway.

She didn't respond to his assertion and, after a pause, Zuko spoke again.

"He doesn't...care about the things that he should. We've already won and he and my sister are still- People are dying when they don't need to and...I tried to talk to him but he- I just..." Zuko trailed off embarassed and frustrated with himself, with her, with his father, and generally with everything and everyone else.

"He doesn't understand," she offered evenly.

"...Yes."

"Yeah, well, parents can be like that." She crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall and Zuko nearly said something unkind about her breeding or her intelligence. Something about how she couldn't possibly understand the gravity of his situation, but then he noticed that her body, carefully arranged in a posture of nonchalance, was also tensed. Her jaw was clenched and the corners of her mouth were downturned.

Zuko cut off his retort before it made it out of his mouth. Her statement hadn't been a dismissal.

"Yes," he said again, softly.

They passed the rest of the wait in silence.


End file.
